ZOO ANIMAL KILLINGS

Animals face many threats in the wild - some ‘natural’ and many that are ‘man-made’. But are animals kept in zoos really safe from danger?

Over the years there have been numerous reports of animals in zoos around the world being injured or killed by visitors or intruders. Shockingly, this week alone has seen two such tragic incidents.

A 15 year old hippopotamus at the National Zoo of El Salvador was reportedly killed following an attack by ‘thugs’, who savagely beat and stabbed him to death. At Belvedere Zoo in Tunisia, a crocodile is believed to have been ‘stoned’ to death after being hit on the head by two large rocks.

Chris Draper, Born Free’s Associate Director for Animal Welfare, said “Even if zoos often fail to meet the needs of their animals, they should - at the very least - offer a place of relative safety. But it is clear from these incidents and others such as the death of Harambe the gorilla at Cincinnati Zoo, that insufficient security and resources are in place in many zoos to keep people safe from animals, and vice versa”.

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